Glaucoma is currently treated using one or more of three strategies to lower the elevated intraocular pressure associated with the disease: with pharmaceuticals (such as beta-blockers, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, and miotics), with laser trabeculoplasty, and/or with glaucoma filtration surgery. All of these therapies indirectly lower intraocular pressure but do not address the underlying disease process occurring in the trabecular meshwork.
Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF.alpha.) is a relative of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and like EGF, it exerts its effects on cells through binding to the EGF receptor. The precise physiological roll of TGF.alpha. is still not clear, although it appears to be important in eye and hair follicle development and may play a role in both the immune system and in wound healing. See Kumar, et al., Cell Biology International, "Transforming Growth Factor Alpha," 19:5, 373-388, 1995.